In Corte Madera, 238 Summit Drive was a labor of love for its original architect owner, but it was removed from market this fall after failing to get its $4.2 million ask.

In Corte Madera, 238 Summit Drive was a labor of love for its original architect owner, but it was removed from market this fall after failing to get its $4.2 million ask.

Photo: Circlevisions

Image 2 of 22

In Corte Madera, 238 Summit Drive was a labor of love for its original architect owner, but it was removed from market this fall after failing to get its $4.2 million ask.

In Corte Madera, 238 Summit Drive was a labor of love for its original architect owner, but it was removed from market this fall after failing to get its $4.2 million ask.

Photo: Circlevisions

Image 3 of 22

In Corte Madera, 238 Summit Drive was a labor of love for its original architect owner, but it was removed from market this fall after failing to get its $4.2 million ask.

In Corte Madera, 238 Summit Drive was a labor of love for its original architect owner, but it was removed from market this fall after failing to get its $4.2 million ask.

Photo: Circlevisions

Image 4 of 22

In Corte Madera, 238 Summit Drive was a labor of love for its original architect owner, but it was removed from market this fall after failing to get its $4.2 million ask.

In Corte Madera, 238 Summit Drive was a labor of love for its original architect owner, but it was removed from market this fall after failing to get its $4.2 million ask.

Photo: Circlevisions

Image 5 of 22

Image 6 of 22

In Corte Madera, 238 Summit Drive was a labor of love for its original architect owner, but it was removed from market this fall after failing to get its $4.2 million ask.

In Corte Madera, 238 Summit Drive was a labor of love for its original architect owner, but it was removed from market this fall after failing to get its $4.2 million ask.

Photo: Circlevisions

Image 7 of 22

In Corte Madera, 238 Summit Drive was a labor of love for its original architect owner, but it was removed from market this fall after failing to get its $4.2 million ask.

In Corte Madera, 238 Summit Drive was a labor of love for its original architect owner, but it was removed from market this fall after failing to get its $4.2 million ask.

Photo: Circlevisions

Image 8 of 22

This wooded Berkeley home was built in 1973 and had some deferred maintenance but eventually sold for 75K less than its initial asking price.

This wooded Berkeley home was built in 1973 and had some deferred maintenance but eventually sold for 75K less than its initial asking price.

Photo: Terrence Jue

Image 9 of 22

This wooded Berkeley home was built in 1973 and had some deferred maintenance but eventually sold for 75K less than its initial asking price.

This wooded Berkeley home was built in 1973 and had some deferred maintenance but eventually sold for 75K less than its initial asking price.

Photo: Terrence Jue

Image 10 of 22

Image 11 of 22

This wooded Berkeley home was built in 1973 and had some deferred maintenance but eventually sold for 75K less than its initial asking price.

This wooded Berkeley home was built in 1973 and had some deferred maintenance but eventually sold for 75K less than its initial asking price.

Photo: Terrence Jue

Image 12 of 22

This wooded Berkeley home was built in 1973 and had some deferred maintenance but eventually sold for 75K less than its initial asking price.

This wooded Berkeley home was built in 1973 and had some deferred maintenance but eventually sold for 75K less than its initial asking price.

Photo: Terrence Jue

Image 13 of 22

This two-unit Queen Anne in Russian Hill was billed as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But it has been on the market for almost 300 days with no buyers biting at its $7.5 million asking price.

This two-unit Queen Anne in Russian Hill was billed as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But it has been on the market for almost 300 days with no buyers biting at its $7.5 million asking price.

Photo: MLS

Image 14 of 22

This two-unit Queen Anne in Russian Hill was billed as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But it has been on the market for almost 300 days with no buyers biting at its $7.5 million asking price.

This two-unit Queen Anne in Russian Hill was billed as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But it has been on the market for almost 300 days with no buyers biting at its $7.5 million asking price.

Photo: MLS

Image 15 of 22

Image 16 of 22

This two-unit Queen Anne in Russian Hill was billed as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But it has been on the market for almost 300 days with no buyers biting at its $7.5 million asking price.

This two-unit Queen Anne in Russian Hill was billed as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But it has been on the market for almost 300 days with no buyers biting at its $7.5 million asking price.

Photo: MLS

Image 17 of 22

This two-unit Queen Anne in Russian Hill was billed as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But it has been on the market for almost 300 days with no buyers biting at its $7.5 million asking price.

This two-unit Queen Anne in Russian Hill was billed as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But it has been on the market for almost 300 days with no buyers biting at its $7.5 million asking price.

Photo: MLS

Image 18 of 22

This two-unit Queen Anne in Russian Hill was billed as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But it has been on the market for almost 300 days with no buyers biting at its $7.5 million asking price.

This two-unit Queen Anne in Russian Hill was billed as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But it has been on the market for almost 300 days with no buyers biting at its $7.5 million asking price.

Photo: MLS

Image 19 of 22

This two-unit Queen Anne in Russian Hill was billed as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But it has been on the market for almost 300 days with no buyers biting at its $7.5 million asking price.

This two-unit Queen Anne in Russian Hill was billed as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But it has been on the market for almost 300 days with no buyers biting at its $7.5 million asking price.

Photo: MLS

Image 20 of 22

Image 21 of 22

This two-unit Queen Anne in Russian Hill was billed as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But it has been on the market for almost 300 days with no buyers biting at its $7.5 million asking price.

This two-unit Queen Anne in Russian Hill was billed as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But it has been on the market for almost 300 days with no buyers biting at its $7.5 million asking price.

Photo: MLS

Image 22 of 22

Even in the quirky Bay Area, unique homes were a tough sell in 2018

1 / 22

Back to Gallery

We regularly write about one-of-a-kind properties here at “On the Block.” But even though we feel these homes are worthy of your attention, some of them are so special that, as we look back at the year gone by, we have to wonder: Whatever happened to those most-memorable listings?

Well, in 2018, the answer, for the most part, is that they failed to sell or sold at a reduced price. Could it be that, as the market softens, there is less of an appetite for homes which may be a challenge to resell? Or does the personal attachment that often comes along with such an individualized home mean that sellers are unwilling to see their prize property get anything less than top dollar?

That seems to have been the case for the long-time owners of this remarkable Corte Madera home we brought you back in February. “The passion project, and personal residence, of famed Bay Area architect Robert Overstreet,” who sold the home directly to the owners, has “boxed ceiling light wells, a dining room with a custom table that can be lowered for Japanese-style dining, and an 82-inch fireplace with a mantel made from railroad ties from an Oakland rail yard.” Even though the agent at the time called the property “a piece of art but very livable,” it appears buyers disagreed and/or balked at the $4.2-million price tag.

That same pricing data shows that the owners tried to rent the property out, initially for $12,500 a month. But even when they dropped the price to $9,995 a few weeks later, renters didn’t bite. Rather than reduce their asking price further, the rental listing was removed at the end of October.

About the same time, the owner of 3303 Dwight Way in Berkeley was getting better news. Though it was listed at $895,000 at the end of July, and the sales agent was anticipating multiple offers when we wrote about the home, the dome home on a large wooded lot ended up with a price reduction to $849,000 at the end of September. A few weeks later, a buyer came forward who appreciated the handmade woodwork and large diamond-shaped windows, but wasn’t willing to totally overlook the deferred maintenance on the 1973 property. It closed at $820,000 at the end of October.

Still other unique homes are in real estate limbo. In Russian Hill, a 1907 Victorian that hadn’t been on the market in 75 years was asking $9,500,000 million when we wrote about it in April. Though it had “views of pretty much every downtown monument” and was billed by its sales agent as a “once in a lifetime opportunity,” buyers couldn’t look past its numerous old-fashioned wallpapers and outdated kitchens and baths. It took a price cut to $7,500,000 in June and still sits at that price almost 300 days after it first came to market.

As we say goodbye to the unique properties of 2018, we’ll be hoping this full-of-potential property finds the right buyer to restore it to its previous grandeur in 2019.

Emily Landes is a writer and editor who is obsessed with all things real estate.